The kind-hearted beastman turned to find Huang Yue gently tugging his arm, her face tinged with a shy blush.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?” he asked with genuine concern.

Huang Yue quickly shook her head. “Thank you for rescuing me,” she said softly. “I’d like to repay you… Could I go with you? I… I feel a little scared being alone.”

Faced with such a delicate, gentle request, the beastman couldn’t refuse and nodded. “Sure thing! Hop on. I’ll take you with us. Don’t worry about helping out,” he said, bowing down in his tiger form to let her climb up.

Nearby, other beastmen looked on with envy.

“He’s so lucky. I wish I were the one she wanted to follow…”

“Thank you. You’re such a good beastman,” Huang Yue replied, smiling as she climbed onto his back. But the moment she looked down, her sweet expression flickered, replaced by a look of calculation and satisfaction.

The group of beastmen set off, carrying Huang Yue to the storage cave where they kept their precious supplies. With salt in short supply, the chief had decreed it be reserved exclusively for the females. They only took out small amounts each day to prepare one pot of soup, which was then shared among them. The beastmen were on their way to fetch more salt for this purpose.

…

Back in the tribe, Hu Jiao Jiao trailed Long Mo as he walked back home at an impossibly slow pace—so slow, in fact, that it felt like a small eternity before they finally reached the familiar sight of her yard.

At last, she sighed with relief.
But what was going on? The entire yard was crowded with beastmen.

“What’s happening here?” Hu Jiao Jiao stopped in her tracks, her gaze filled with concern as she took in the scene.

“Did something happen to the cubs?” Panic gripped her chest. Forgetting all about Long Mo and his strange behavior, she rushed forward, her mind filled with worry.

As she ran, Long Mo kept his eyes fixed on her retreating figure, his expression unreadable as he pondered something silently. After a brief moment, he followed her into the yard.

“Let me through! I need to see!”

Hu Jiao Jiao pushed her way through the wall of beastmen crowded at her front gate, her heart racing as she anxiously called out for her cubs, afraid something terrible had happened in her absence.

At the sound of her voice, a beastman turned and exclaimed, “Hu Jiao Jiao is back! And Long Mo too!”

In an instant, the crowd of beastmen turned around, all of them beaming as they face her. The sudden attention made Hu Jiao Jiao instinctively take a step back, her expression cautious.

“What are you all doing here?” she asked, her brow furrowing. “Is something going on? And where are my cubs?”

Before any of them could answer, the chief stepped forward, a broad smile on his face as he approached her.

“Hu Jiao Jiao, you’re back! Come, come—I’ve got some wonderful news to share.”

Seeing the chief, Hu Jiao Jiao relaxed, realizing her fears were unfounded. Whatever was going on, her cubs were okay. Her expression softened with relief, though she couldn’t help but wonder what this good news could be.

“What’s the news?” she asked.

The chief gestured for the crowd to part, and the beastmen promptly cleared a path for them. He led her through the yard, which Hu Jiao Jiao had expanded not long ago to accommodate more space. Even with the additional room, the number of beastmen gathered made the area feel cramped.

As they walked further in, Hu Jiao Jiao noticed a large pile of materials in the yard. She gasped as recognition dawned. These were the exact materials she had been seeking to build her new home!

The chief’s voice sounded from beside her, brimming with excitement. “Look here, Hu Jiao Jiao—are these the materials you needed?”

“Yes, Chief! Thank you so much for finding these!” Hu Jiao Jiao beamed, her voice filled with gratitude. As she examined the materials, she saw that many of them were unique to this world but had similar properties to what she required. This meant she wouldn’t have to rely on her space supplies for substitutions after all.

But the chief merely chuckled, shaking his head. “No need to thank me. I didn’t gather these things. They were all found by Long Mo. It was his hard work alone that brought them here.”

Hu Jiao Jiao froze in place.

Long Mo? But she hadn’t even told him about this…

Seeing her look of confusion, the chief quickly explained, “I was the one who asked him to help. Since he can fly, it’s easier for him to search for things in the forest.”

Hu Jiao Jiao pressed her lips together, a flurry of emotions flooding through her as she considered this. Just how much time and effort must it have taken him to gather all this? It made sense now, the exhaustion she’d noticed on his face, his absence over the past few days… all of it had been because of this.

Why? Why would he go to such lengths for her? Shouldn’t he despise her, even wish she were gone? Yet here he was, quietly helping her…

Turning to search for Long Mo, she saw that he had already slipped away, leaving her with even more questions.

The chief, unaware of her turmoil, was practically vibrating with excitement as he asked, “Hu Jiao Jiao, with all these materials, can we finally build stone houses?”

“Yes, we can,” she replied, though hesitantly. “But building stone houses will require a lot more material…”

Among the supplies were slabs of greenstone, crushed stone, and a gritty substance called “sand-clay” that functioned similarly to cement. One slab alone weighed several hundred pounds, with the largest weighing nearly half a ton. Building with these materials would require not only more resources but also significant manpower.

“That’s not a problem,” the chief assured her. “Tell us how much more you need, and I’ll arrange for the beastmen to gather it. It’s only a matter of time.”

His declaration was met with enthusiastic agreements from the other beastmen, who pounded their chests and nodded firmly.

“Hu Jiao Jiao, we have plenty of strength. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll get it done,” one of them said confidently.

With stone houses, the females could finally be warm through the winter without needing to shelter in caves. The beastmen were eager to pitch in, knowing they would be learning valuable skills that could benefit their families as well.

HU Jiao Jiao hadn’t expected such an outpouring of support. Her heart warmed, though she still spoke with careful consideration. “Building stone houses requires both labor and resources, and I’d appreciate all your help. But I believe in fair exchange, so I’ll be teaching the building methods to any beastmen who contribute.”

She wanted everyone to learn through their own work, valuing what they earned rather than seeing her help as something to take for granted.